MWGemini

I'm really surprised to hear that you (and Lou) have had bad experiences with Oakley's. They have taken far more abuse than any other brand I've ever tried, and their customer service kicks ass. Would Gatorz give you a brand new pair after 3 or 4 years of beating the hell out of them, and for only $40? Oakley did. Mike

Silly Skyblade, coconuts are for monkeys.

The cheap pair that I use (both with my fullface and when jumping an open face) sometimes fogs in the plane, but always clears instantly out the door (if not before exit, once the door is opened). I've found that keeping the lenses warm (I just leave them on my head) helps a bit.

I have only worn the Oakleys, but their quality and customer service are better than any other product I have ever owned. I've owned several pairs of Oakleys over the years, both polarized and non polarized. I have never tried the minutes, but my current pair are E-wires (I believe) that I originally purchassed about 4 or 5 years ago when I was in the Army. I beat the hell out of those, including dropping them out of a helicopter at 120ft. They survived everything I threw at them. Last year, I sent them in to Oakley to have the lenses replaced and new ear pads installed, which they said they could do for something like $40 (I paid almost $200 originally, so that sounded like a great bargain). I also included a short letter explaining how much I loved the product and how durable it was, with a long list of all the horrible things it had been through. When I got them back, I found that they did not in fact put in new lenses. Instead, they gave me a brand new pair that was actually a slight step up over the ones I had originally sent in, along with a simple note thanking me for my business. I will never buy anything other than Oakley ever again. That being said, I have never used mine while skydiving (I have a cheap pair I use, because I am afraid of losing my Oakleys), and I do not have experience with their prescription lenses. If the polarized lens might cause an issue with the visor of the helmet, bring the helmet into an Oakley dealer and try them on together. The only difference will be the prescription, but I don't think that will affect them that much (as far as colors, depth distortion, etc). I personally prefer polarized lenses, and Oakley makes the best lenses I've ever worn. Mike

Well, I had a chance to try it on a skydive today, and it wasn't quite as easy as I thought it would be from practicing it on the ground. The potential for missing the toggle is larger than I originally thought. This forced me to take an extra half second to be sure my hands were where they should be. When it matters, that is a half second that won't be there. Maybe with practice, or wide grip toggles. To those who have provided their feedback, thank you. This method may have its merits. Or it might not be worth the (digital) paper it is printed on (so to speak), but I thank you for your feedback. I'm trying to learn all I can now so that in a few years when I start BASE jumping, I'll be the safest and most knowledgeable jumper I can be. To those who have reacted negatively toward my post, I apologize for intruding on your space. If you look at my record, you'll see that my only posts here are ones that could affect the community as a whole. The rest of the time, I just lurk quietly in the shadows and try to be observant and learn. I'm sure i look like just another whuffo to you, another person trained to think BASE is just a cool game by Mountain Dew commercials and the like. That is not the case, as anyone who knows me can attest to. My outlook is that I am here for the long haul, and I will be patient while I build the necessary skills to do this as safely as possible. It is this desire to be safe that has me constantly thinking. In the military, we were taught to follow orders. I always asked too many questions, and rubbed a lot of people the wrong way because of that. Some of them were stupid questions. Some of them saved time, money, and maybe even lives. I'll gladly look like a fool a few dozen times if it means that every once in a while I come up with a good idea that makes a difference. We were taught to "train as you'll fight, because you WILL fight as you trained". This mentality has carried over into my skydiving. That is why I am thinking about BASE with only ~70 jumps (and in fact started skydiving with the goal of getting into BASE). There is no reason for me to wait until I have a few hundred jumps to START LEARNING about the sport. I'd rather start learning immediately, and over a long period of time, see what works, what doesn't, maybe come up with some new ideas, and have a much deeper understanding of the sport and what is required to do it safely. Like I said, I plan to be here for a long time, and I'll take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that I'm doing so safely. I've got enough titanium in my body as it is. Again, thanks to everyone who has provided me with their input. This technique may work for you. It may not. If you try it, I would love to hear your thoughts on it (good, bad, or otherwise). I'm not asking any of you to change your procedures based on my idea. If the idea has merit, evaluate it and use it at your discretion. If it does not, discard it and move on, or think of something better. The ultimate goal is to do this safely and have fun, is it not? Mike

I've uploaded a short video of the grip I'm suggesting to http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=2374. The aspect ratio is off (sorry- I ripped it in a hurry and forgot to change the output size), but it should still demonstrate the general idea pretty well. Better than words can, at least. In the video, I made my movements very slow and exaggerated so that it would be easier to see what I was doing. Obviously, it can be done much much faster and smoother. Also note that this was performed on the hanging harness at my DZ, so the toggles are not in the same spot as they would normally be (although they are close), nor are they attached the same way (ours are just velcroed on the the riser, and the velcro is wearing out, so they aren't well attached). Again, this video is just to demonstrate the general idea. I have not yet tested this on an actual jump yet, although I hope to get a chance to try it this weekend. I think with a little bit of practice, it can be done just as quickly and as accurately as grabbing for the risers only. Especially with the big grab toggles (with which I have no experience). Another thought I had is that if it were somehow possible to either twist the riser about 90 degrees towards the outside of the jumper, or have the toggles mount on an extra piece of webbing on the side, rather than the back of the riser, grabbing them both would be MUCH easier, as you would just reach straight into (forward) the loop, and would not have to enter the toggle from the side (whichever side that may be). This is all just food for thought. I do not have the experience to know if this could really be an improvement, nor do I have the experience to know if it could be worse than normal. I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts/comments/suggestions on this. Thanks, Mike Edit: late night grammar mistake

I'll see if I can get a friend to video the grip I'm suggesting (we should be able to demonstrate it on our hanging harness, but maybe not). Had a brief talk with Jaap a little while ago, and I think I may not have been clear enough in my initial explanation. I can't comment on the toggles vs risers debate. I know there are (arguably) certain situations where one is better than the other, or vice versa. If practiced enough, doing it the way I am picturing won't waste any additional time. I did think of something new, however. If the riser somehow had a half twist in it (ninety degrees), and the toggle is mounted on the outer side (rather than on the back, as they are now), the would allow for a MUCH easier grab of the toggle and riser simultaneously, with less possibility of missing the toggle loop. especially with big grab toggles. If this doesn't make sense, I'll try to make it more clear either with video or with a better explanation. Thanks, Mike

For the last 20-30 jumps or so, I've been practicing getting my hands into my toggles as quickly as possible during opening. I hope to begin BASE jumping in a few years, and I'm trying to build the muscle memory and reaction time that I know I will need. I am now able to pretty consistently have the toggles out and down before the slider comes halfway down. Granted, I jump a Spectre, with a reputation for slow openings, but I've got to start somewhere. That being said, I had a thought yesterday that maybe I am doing more harm than good by practicing the way I am. I've read (and heard stories) that it is often better to go for risers in the event of a 180. Personally, I have always grabbed my toggles from the outside, with fingers going in towards the center. I'm now considering the merits of reaching for toggles from the inside, with fingers pointing out. This way, your hands are through the toggles, and also on the risers. If risers are needed for obstacle avoidance, your hands are already there, you just squeeze and pull down whichever riser is necessary. If toggles are needed, your hands are already in them, you just pull down without squeezing hard enough to grab the riser. Does anyone else do this (reach from inside towards outside)? Can anyone see any flaws in my logic, or provide suggestions? Thanks, Mike

I got this error several times just a few minutes ago while trying to access several different threads: A fatal error has occurred: GT::Session::SQL (19775): Could not connect to database. Reason: Too many connections at /home/dropzone/dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/admin/GForum/Authenticate.pm line 418. Please enable debugging in setup for more details. Mike

It was nice meeting you today. Sorry for having to cut the tour a little short. I hope I answered all of your questions. Mike

Actually, it's the MAC address that is the unique identifier for the NIC card. While I doubt the ISP would log that, I don't think it is beyond the realm of possibility. Somebody with more knowledge than I would have to answer that one. Mike

There was a guy at my DZ jumping the Bonehead shoe mount this weekend. They have a very simple cutaway system on it, you might want to take a look at it. From looking at your setup, it looks like just having the webbing that holds the two sections together be two pieces. Have a closing loop at the end of one, and a grommet at the end of the other, run a cable through the loop, and that's it. That is essentially what the Bonehead system does, although there are two sections that the cutaway cable passes through due to the layout of the straps. My friend (the guy who jumped it) had our rigger install a small grommet in the hip of his jumpsuit that he ran a cutaway cable through, then down his leg to the shoe mount. The cutaway handle was then mounted on his rig (I think it velcroed around the MLW). Mike

Glad you enjoyed your stay. Come again soon.

I still need you to sign my logbook for that h&p with the funneled exit. Still not sure wtf happened out the door, but it was fun. You missed half the load landing out on sunset today because Joey led our tracking dive downwind for about nine thousand feet. I was running down a row of corn and had to hop over it when I landed. Pretty funny, actually. Who is coming out tomorrow and Monday? Mike

So what is the solution, and what is the cipher? Mike

Yeah, I've got an idea that I'm pretty sure would get us the cover of parachutist, but it's going to require a few tries to get right, I think. We'll need 8 or 9 people for it, including two wingsuits. I'm confident that we can pull it off, it will mainly just be a matter of nailing the exit. I'll be out there tomorrow, maybe we can get another practice run at it. I can't wait to see Marion's new suit. Mike

My DZ uses Javelin student rigs with adjustable MLW. I know that Javelin put out a service bulletin a while back to ensure that they get inspected properly. There have been two fatalities that I know of caused by adjustable MLW systems that have slipped. Check the Sun Path website, and talk to your instructors. Mike

Sounds like the rig has an adjustable MLW, so the belly band would not help a whole lot if the MLW isn't properly adjusted. Mike

I've uploaded the video of this weekend's jump to http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=2335. The video was edited on a linear editing system, and then converted to DVD. I used Flash DVD Ripper to convert the file to AVI, and encoded it with the DivX codec in slow mode (best compression and quality). Because the ripper I used was shareware,, and limited the length of the clip it would rip, I had to trim a little bit of the beginning and end of the video off. Final video length is about 4 minutes, 10 seconds (original was 4:40 or so), and file size is about 30mb. Mike

It will be good to have you both back up here again. This weekend Ellis, Eric, myself, and three instructors did a wingsuit rodeo tracking dive. I rode on Ellis' back and Eric almost docked on us. We're hoping to get at least one dock on the next one, and it would be very cool if we could get two wingsuits with riders docked, and trackers docked on them. Maybe we can do that while you two are up here. Eric- have you posted the pictures of that jump yet? Mike

Oh. I didn't know that some tandem canopies were designed as dual purpose. The fact that anyone would jump a main until it is ragged out and then continue to jump it as a reserve amazes me, though. If they don't trust it as their man, why on earth would they trust it as their reserve? Thanks, Mike

Correct me if I am wrong, but aren't reserves supposed to be TSOd, while mains are not? If the main (which is now in the reserve container) does not have that TSO, wouldn't it be illegal to pack it, even if it were in pristine condition (which is obviously not the case)? Thanks, Mike

Karen, Eric and I, as well as a few others, went searching for it again this week, but didn't find it. Maybe we can get another search party going this weekend (looks the the weather might not permit jumping all weekend). Mike

Yeah, I wasn't sure of that, hence the disclaimer. I'm not sure what would be a better method. I'm sure that a specialized rigid cable descender exists (as opposed to climbing descenders that require the rope to be passed through pulleys), but I don't have any experience with them. Mike

I hate kids too, but there is a reason for that. Kids are not inherently bad, just undisciplined ones. Parents should still be allowed to beat the crap out of their children when they get out of line. It's good for them. See below . http://maddox.xmission.com/beat.html Mike